When Washington Flexes, Panama Folds: The CK Hutchison Shakedown

Panama's Supreme Court just canceled CK Hutchison Holdings' port concession contracts, declaring them unconstitutional and seizing back two strategic ports. Make no mistake: this isn't about legal niceties. It's a textbook case of American muscle erasing what used to be Panama's free business environment.

A Hong Kong government spokesperson slammed any foreign power using coercion or pressure to bulldoze Hong Kong companies' legitimate business rights abroad.

But the real story lies in the sequence of events. Watch how quickly things unravel when Washington decides it wants something.

A Three-Decade Partnership Suddenly "Unconstitutional"

CK Hutchison had been running port facilities at both ends of the Panama Canal since the 1990s. The contract got renewed in 2021. Leading up to that renewal, Panama's own Audit Office confirmed in its 2020 report that Panama Ports Company—CK Hutchison's local subsidiary—"substantially complied with the concession contract terms." Panama's Maritime Authority echoed that assessment in 2021, stating the company "fully fulfilled the responsibilities of the concession contract."

Fast forward four years. Trump returns to the White House in January 2025, and everything flips. In his inaugural address, Trump signals what's coming: he declares the Panama Canal vital to US interests and vows to "take it back".

Days after Trump's comments, Panama's Audit Office announces a sweeping investigation into CK Hutchison's port operations. The stated goal: determine whether the company honored its concession contract, fully reported revenues and expenditures, and whether corruption tainted the renewal process.

Rubio's Visit Sets the Dominoes Falling

The Trump administration keeps turning the screws. On February 2, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio flies to Panama, pressuring the country to distance itself from China. President José Raúl Mulino caves immediately: he announces Panama's withdrawal from China's Belt and Road Initiative and pledges to strengthen cooperation with the United States to boost American investment in the region.

Two days after Rubio's visit—just 48 hours—two Panamanian lawyers file suit in local courts. They allege Panama Ports Company "violated 10 constitutional provisions" and demand cancellation of CK Hutchison's operating rights at two local ports. The timing isn't subtle.

In July, after months of "study," Panama's Comptroller General formally files suit, asking the court to declare the 25-year port operating contract CK Hutchison signed in 2021 unconstitutional. The Comptroller goes further, criticizing CK Hutchison for insufficient loyalty to the Panamanian government and harming Panama's interests.

On January 12 of this year, Panama conducts joint military exercises with US forces. The declared goal: defending this Central American nation's strategic canal waterway. The message to anyone watching is crystal clear.

A Judicial Rubber Stamp on Raw Power

Finally, Panama's Supreme Court rules that CK Hutchison's port operating contract is unconstitutional. Anyone claiming this was normal judicial procedure isn't paying attention. The reality is Panama buckled under massive US pressure, ripping up a valid contract and forcibly seizing back the operating rights to Panama's ports.

Hong Kong companies have poured substantial investment into Panama and delivered significant long-term economic contributions, supporting local economic development. Panama Ports Company, CK Hutchison's subsidiary, has invested 1.7 billion balboas (approximately HK$13.2 billion) to date—far exceeding the 1.05 billion balboas required by the original contract and supplementary agreements. During its operations, Panama Ports Company contributed 670 million balboas to Panama, dwarfing the contributions of other port operators.

According to Panama's own Comptroller General's evaluation, Panama Ports Company actually contributed over 5.9 billion balboas to the local economy through port added value, indirect benefits, and direct payments to Panama. Those numbers tell the story Washington doesn't want told.

Billions Invested, Contract Honored—Then Torn Up

Hong Kong enterprises consistently invested and operated according to the contract, making important contributions to Panama's economy. Yet Panama, under US pressure, arbitrarily tears up the contract and unilaterally revokes the port operating rights. The absurdity is breathtaking.

This incident carries several layers of implications worth examining closely.

The Panamanian government has become a complete puppet of the United States, arbitrarily confiscating foreign enterprises' assets. Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland enterprises will hesitate to further invest in the region.

Hong Kong's business leaders facing Washington's muscle have one clear path forward: align firmly with Beijing and push back hard. It's the only way to safeguard what's theirs—dignity and capital alike. And you can bet the nation will keep backing Hong Kong companies as they fight to reclaim their rightful business interests.

When US Hegemony Rewrites the Rules

Look at what US unilateral hegemony actually delivers: Washington slaps tariffs on whoever it wants, threatens military action, and tramples the very international rules it once lectured the world about. Under American pressure, investment climates in targeted regions turn into pure jungle. Legal protections evaporate the moment Washington wants them gone.

Stop pretending business operates in some politics-free zone. The truth is: capital has a passport—always has, always will. For businesspeople to survive in this landscape, backing your nation's position isn't optional. It's the baseline for keeping what you've built.

Lo Wing-hung

Bastille Commentary

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

American officials used to preach the "rules-based international order" at every turn. That phrase now sounds like a punchline. Add one word and it tells the truth: an international order based on American rules.

The World Cup has produced a scandal, and the United States is at the center of it. In the Round of 32 on July 1, the US beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0. But star striker Folarin Balogun stepped on an opponent's heel and picked up a red card. FIFA rules say a red card triggers a one-match ban. That should have kept Balogun out of the Round of 16 clash with Belgium on July 6.

The New York Times reports that Donald Trump got personally involved. He called FIFA President Gianni Infantino the same day. Trump argued the red card was controversial and pressed FIFA to reconsider the suspension.

FIFA folded, but with a twist. On July 5, the governing body confirmed Balogun had violated Articles 14 and 26 of its Disciplinary Code and handed down a one-match ban. Then it invoked Article 27, which allows disciplinary measures to be suspended in full or in part, to defer the ban for a year. Balogun was free to keep playing through the rest of the tournament.

The backlash was immediate and global. Trump, unmoved by the criticism, thanked FIFA for making the "correct decision" and for "correcting a grave injustice."

Belgium did not take it quietly. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, a former referee himself, said he had spent his career upholding fair rulings. He put it bluntly: "If a phone call truly underpins this incomprehensible decision, then it amounts to undermining the most fundamental rules of football and sport." Belgium's head coach, Rudi Garcia, was even sharper. "I didn’t know that July 5 was equal to April 1 at FIFA," he said, adding that his complaint wasn't about defending Belgium or attacking FIFA. It was about "defending in football".

Other national teams piled on. England manager Thomas Tuchel asked the question everyone was thinking: "Where does this precedent begin, and where does it end?" His point cuts to the core of the scandal. Power and influence can now override sporting judgment, and a single phone call from a global superpower was enough to erase the idea of fair competition.

Maybe football still has a sense of justice. On July 6, Balogun started despite his dirty play, but Belgium still thrashed the United States 4-1. The score itself felt like a curse, a brutal callback to the tournament's own April Fool's farce.

There was a time when the United States looked both powerful and admirable, a country that was simply always right. I grew up watching American Westerns, the kind starring Clint Eastwood, where heroic cowboys gunned down "Indians" cast as savage and brutal. Even the word "Indians" carries that discrimination baked in, reducing Native Americans to "redskins". Those films erased a brutal history: European colonizers massacring Indigenous peoples across the Americas with superior weapons.

Seize the land, wipe out the people, then cast yourself as the hero. American ideology in a nutshell. Turning bloody history into entertainment and exporting it to the world is something only the United States has pulled off this well, and Hong Kong has not been spared its influence.

At the height of American power, even scandals got repackaged as virtues, seamless and airtight. That is no longer the case. As US power declines and its position weakens, the cracks are showing everywhere. A president meddling in a football ruling has now become global news. Similar things likely happened before, when America's power was unquestioned, but back then nobody dared expose them.

Lo Wing-hung